ICICI banks on infrastructure lending to boost growth

Chanda Kochhar, managing director and chief executive officer, said at the sidelines of a seminar on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME):  “A lot of activities have come back in terms of re-starting projects. The fact that the projects are coming to financial closure indicates the sector will grow,” as reported in the Business Standard. 

However, the financial closure of core sector projects may not reflect in credit growth immediately, she said. “These are long-term projects and their disbursement will also take place over a period,” Kochhar said. 

ICICI Bank has about a million MSME customers and will continue to foster the sector. “My MSME portfolio in terms of lending is about Rs 12,000 crore. Our MSME loan book is growing and we will continue to grow it,” said Kochhar. 

She declined to divulge the bank’s growth projection for the sector. But, said it sees its market share in MSME lending among private sector banks, now 20 per cent, improving.